Lily wiped her damp neck with a handkerchief as the bright sun made the air inside the carriage too stuffy.
She opened the window, feeling the breeze from outside as she stared at the wide lake along the stony path that seemed to have no end.
Lily had never seen the sea before, but she imagined that the sea would be similar to this, basically a lake that spanned miles and miles away until she couldn’t see the end.
Perhaps she needed to be more grateful for her situation.
After all, she would never be able to see such beautiful scenery if she was stuck on the farm her entire life.
“That is the Lake of Fate,” Ren mentioned as he flicked his eyes toward the sight of the wide lake.
“There is a city called Twilight City located at the center of the lake.
You may see a tower made out of white marble soon enough.” Lily nodded.
She watched the lake, barely blinking, as if the sight of the tower would vanish if she dared to blink too much.
And then, she finally saw it.
“Wow, it’s…
scary…” she murmured.
“Scary?” Ren asked.
“Mmm, it looks like a giant white mushroom,” Lily commented, and that comment was met with a boisterous laugh from the Fox Lord.
“That’s one way to describe it,” Ren said in between his laughter.
“What?
I’m not wrong, am I?” Lily tried to defend herself.
“I mean, the top of the tower is a giant ring.
It reminds me of a destroying angel, a super poisonous mushroom from where I live!” “Interesting.
The East Fox Clan uses a variety of poisonous mushrooms for medicine,” Ren said with a smile.
He turned his head, staring at the tower in the middle of the lake.
“We call that the Twilight Tower.
But I’ll call it Mushroom Tower from now on.” “D-d-don’t do that.
You might anger some people…” Lily said.
“At least, if people get angry because of that, please don’t mention my name.
You definitely did not hear that from me.” Ren laughed again, and Lily felt that the atmosphere inside the carriage began to heat up for some reason.
“We’ll arrive at Twilight City in about three days,” Ren sighed.
“If only the bridge between the East Fox territory and Twilight City were still intact, I wouldn’t have to travel so far to the West Wolf Pack territory just to enter the city.” “What happened to it?” Lily asked.
“Destroyed by an old lizard after a small argument,” Ren scoffed.
“I can always rebuild it, but…
things aren’t looking so good inside my territory, and using my magic to carry an entire caravan across a huge lake is too tiring.” Lily did not understand who this “old lizard” was.
He had mentioned him before when talking with Gareth.
At first, she assumed it was a really big lizard that crawled around the wall.
But for it to destroy a bridge?
Then that lizard must be really big.
“There are only two bridges, but since the east side has been completely destroyed, all the beast monarchs will have to go through the West Wolf Territory to enter, except for that old lizard.
He can just fly,” Ren sneered.
“How convenient.
Flying straight to the city after destroying a bridge.” The more he talked about it, the more Lily sensed his mood worsening.
It made her wonder what kind of animosity between the four beast monarchs had been accumulating over the years for them to be this bad.
She recalled Gareth, who kept baring his fangs at Ren, as if it was purely instinctive for him to be hostile toward the Fox Lord.
Mmm, I guess the next Moon Priestess will have a lot of work to do to make them all behave.
Lily thought, silently sympathizing with the next priestess for all the headaches she would have to endure.
After all, she had seen how bad the communication between Gareth and Ren was.
She couldn’t imagine having to lead four crazy men at the same time.
— Lily never knew that there was anything taller than the governor’s three-story mansion back in her hometown.
As the carriage entered a long bridge, her head tilted up and up until she almost fell on her back when she saw the Twilight Tower and other tall buildings made of white marble around it.
They were so shiny that her eyes were almost blinded by them, but it was indeed a very magnificent sight that she could never have seen back when she was living at the barn.
The city itself was also bustling, with many beastfolk of various species doing mundane things, much like the humans she used to see in town.
But as she watched them, she could not understand one thing.
“How come I don’t see a single fox or wolf beastfolk here?” she asked.
Because Twilight City is supposedly under the rule of the Moon Priestess.
It hosts other beastfolk who are not part of the four dominant species, so they won’t be discriminated against in other territories,” Ren replied.
“The foxes stay inside the East Fox territory, and the wolves stay in the West Wolf territory.
“Then how about the north and the south?” she continued inquiring.
“You will see them later,” he replied.
“Though, you shouldn’t talk to the other two monarchs.
They are a mess.” “And you are not?” Lily jabbed.
“I am the messiest of them all,” Ren admitted, much to Lily’s surprise.
“But at least I can still act normally toward my people.” That statement made Lily wonder what kind of insane things were happening with the other two monarchs.
Then how about Gareth?
Was he abnormal as well?
He looked very normal to her, though, and now that she knew about his identity as a wolf beastfolk, she still saw him as the same witty, annoying, and adorable big brother of hers from the barn.
Perhaps, she knew less about him than he knew about her.
As Lily was stuck pondering it, the carriage finally stopped.